Between the stars
by chiquitachispa
Summary: She was too strong to let her power go to waste, that's why Snoke sent Kylo and his knights to retrieve her. Now a guest of the First Order, Kylo is entrusted the task of gaining her trust, or at least not make her life a walking hell. But do her calm demeanor and caring hands hide more than she lets on? Rating may change.


Chapter one: The summoning

Not often was Kylo Ren summoned by his master in an off-schedule transmission, but when he was, it sheldon entrailed superfluous matters.

The summon had reached his mind not two minutes before Kylo Ren made his way to the hollow room destined to the task.

As he awaited in the holo room Kylo rejoiced that, at least, Hux had not been invited to the event. The commander and the General had been quite on edge after he had destroyed some of his computers on one of his latest fits. Well, more than the usual, that is.

After yet another unfructified mission to retrieve the map to find the map to Luke Skywalker, Kylo had taken the edge of his frustration on some of the panels of the General's precious warship.

A surge of ghost rage washed over Kylo, but it subsided fast as the hologram came to life. He bowed his head in submission.

"I am here, Master" his voice reverberated in the cavernous room.

"Kylo Ren" Said Snoke in his raspy voice "I have a mission for you… it is of upmost importance that you carry it... successfully" Kylo gritted his teeth at the veiled insult in the light of his recent failure. He would please his master and put at ease his doubts at last.

"I will, Master"

Seemingly content with his answer, Snoke leaned forward, staring his apprentice down.

"I have felt a presence in the outer rim, strong with the force. You are to take your knights and find her"

Kylo frowned at the floor. He had taken care of the objectives Supreme Leader Snoke had given him of his own "Master, I am strong enough to end the force user on my own"

Snoke chuckled, darkly, it would have sounded almost like a real laugh had it not been for the wheezing quality of his voice.

"You won't be killing her, Kylo"

Kylo rose his head, looking at his Master in confusion.

"Master-"

"SILENCE" Kylo's mouth shut fast and he lowered his head again.

"You are to take your knights and find her" Snoke repeated in an absolute tone. "Bring the force user unharmed. She is too precious, we cannot let her fall in the hands of the rebel scum. You must convince her, but cause her no harm. The force tells me she will be a great asset in the war. One we'd better have on our side"

"Yes, Master"

"Good" Snoke leaned back in his chair "She is in the Quadrant Beta of the outer ring. You will know how to find her. Take as long as you need, but bring her with you"

Nodding, Kylo waited for the Hologram to fade and finally got back on his feet.

He strode with purpose through the walkway and to his quarters.

The time to summon the Knights of Ren.

* * *

The following day found Kylo awaiting for the last of his knights to gather in the war room.

He and his knights cut an impressive image on their way towards the hangar, a black cloud of towering figures cutting through the durasteel walls of the corridors, gathering the intranquil looks of the technicians and staff. They knew that the summon of the Knights sheldon implied superfluous affairs.

But not all were dreadful reactions.

On the other side of the Finalizer, Hux had been more than pleased to hear Kylo would be leaving for an undefined amount of time, just so he wouldn't have to fill more paperwork over some destroyed console for a day.

Kylo stewed on himself, coming again and again over the words of his master.

Who was she and why was she so important that even his own master was undermining his power? He, the most powerful sith in the galaxy? He should be more than enough for his master.

Kylo clenched his jaw under his helmet, his distorted breaths quickening from his inner turmoil. He would trust his master. He would fetch the woman and then he would see if she was as important as his master thought.

* * *

And she was.

Her presence could be felt the same moment they jumped out of hyperspace.

Like a rope to a hidden treasure, it guided them as the ship glided through the quadrant, finally setting in a lush planet on the outer system, Quenya.

Following the presence, they landed in the closest clear to a village in the hills between two mountains. Close enough to observe, far and hidden enough to not be noticed.

The Knights reunited in the small war room of the suttle, observing the holo map of the village.

"Supreme Leader Snoke has entrusted us with the mission to retrieve the force user. Female, race unknown" Said Kylo.

"Will we be raiding the village then, Master?" Asked Bakko.

"We won't be raiding no village" It came as a surprise to the knights. Usually they were summoned for more… forceful purposes.

"Supreme Leader has strictly instructed that the objective is to be retrieved by nonviolent means" Kylo's stern voice sounded through the modulator of his helmet.

"Jen" Kylo called.

"Master" said the man taking his cue "We will start with observation droids. Getting any closer to the objective would be risking being sensed"

"What guarantee do we have she has not sensed us already? We followed her trail through all the quadrant, she could do the same" Bakko put in.

"The objective is strong, but her force signature is too raw. It is clear she is untrained" Jen answered.

Kylo lowered his gaze to the holo map on the table while the rest of his knights discussed the approaching. It was a small village, a hundred inhabitants at most. If Snoke had wanted it gone, he would have been enough, but he wanted the girl alive and unharmed.

"We will begin by sending the droids and identifying the force user, Master" finally said Jen, having assumed his usual strategist position.

Kylo nodded his approval, bottled in his own mind.

"Bora, send in the droids at nightfall" the dark skinned knight nodded.

Kylo straightened and walked off, dismissing the short meeting.

* * *

An unmasked Kylo sat on his chambers on the shutter. He straightened his back, trying to get his mind into a proper state for meditation. He quieted his mind, ridding himself of any lingering thought and then sank into the force.

For a while Kylo waddled in it like a pool, relishing the feeling of the power skimming over him and then, slowly, he searched for the trace of force users around himself.

He found six traces, his knights, and diverted from them, aiming his conscience towards the village, following a string. The farther he went the thicker the string became. Careful not to alert the owner, Kylo followed it, partially coming out of his state and letting his presence walk through the village's moonlight showered streets.

He followed trail after trail, tracing the owner's usual journey. It seemed that years of routine had engraved her essence in the streets, leaving behind a false trail. Kylo persisted, focused in finding his objective.

A fresher trail diverted him from the village and so he followed, through the outer part of the settlement and though the leafy woods. There, he found too a force trail carved by the routine of repeated visits. Kylo kept on advancing through the trees until he finally came to a clear in the woods.

And there, he found her.

Unperturbed, a woman sat at the shore of a lake. Her long hair so black it fused with the night sky and fell in tight curls down her back like a cape, in contrast with her grey clothes.

He drew closer, wanting to finally identify the reason his Master had sent him to the outer ring of the galaxy. Now he could see part of her white face, so white he wondered if she was as human as she looked. She seemed too enraptured on the stars to notice him, and so Kylo braved to get closer, to finally see the side of her face. He observed her then. Straight nose with a slight perk at the point, her dark pink lips laid slightly parted, creating a double contrast with her hair and her deadly pale skin.

And then her eyes snapped from the sky, to him.

* * *

Kylo's eyes shot open. The silence of the room was just broken by his ragged breaths. The sudden pull to his body had unbalanced him, it was never good to interrupt a meditation, he knew already, but he had risked being discovered.

As he tried to recover his breath, Kylo thought of the eyes of the woman. Although he had just seen them for a moment they were still fresh in his mind. Irises of a light grey like the stones of the village's houses, crashing with the black lashes that surrounded them. Eyes that had looked right at his own as he stood there between the terrenal plain and the spiritual one.

Eyes that would haunt him for the rest of the night.

* * *

She seemed to be preparing herself for something, what it was he did not know.

Kylo observed her through the droids as the woman ran her errands, going here and there, villagers coming to what seemed to be her hut, to then come out with her in tow, always smiling.

The people seemed to respect the young woman, bowing to her when she passed by, although she seemed too young to receive such respect. Maybe she was the daughter of the village's chief.

Kylo observed her all through the day, sometimes accompanied by some of his knights, others alone, trying to draw a routine, but she seemed to run from here to there, from one house to the other, always in a hurry, Kylo notized. Maybe she had felt him at the lake after all.

By the second day of observation he realized what she was doing. She came out of her hut with several bags and went to the market, talking to the owners of several stands and selling some of her possessions and receiving a pretty heavy pouch with credits.

Then, she disappeared in the back alleys.

Kylo fumbled with the droids, looking for his objective. He grew more and more frustrated until, at last, he found her before a hut.

The thing was small and rickety, to say the least, a feat it hadn't collapsed on itself and ended its sorry existence decades ago.

The woman disappeared inside and Kylo expected the thing to finally turn into dust, but it did not.

He waited patiently, but the woman would not emerge until two hours later. Another woman accompanied her, older and with red, puffy eyes as if she had been crying hard. His objective stepped forward and hugged the woman tightly and after some words he could not hear thanks to the distance the droid had been positioned, she left.

The rest of the day she spent it on her hut. Kylo analyzed it as the evening and then night drew in. It was too big for a single person, he noted, yet there seemed to be no traces of other tenants.

"Master, would you like me to take over the observation?" Jen's voice broke the silence in the room.

Kylo turned his covered head to his knight. Of all of his disciples Jen was the most leveled. He was responsible and calm, not often did Kylo relegate his duty in his knights, but when he did they always fell on his most loyal subject.

Kylo nodded and silently exited the room for his quarters, eager to resume his meditation and get some rest.

 _Master, there is movement._

Kylo instantly came about from his meditated state. Springing to his feet Kylo emerged on the tactic room, packed with the rest of his knights. They parted and let him come to the front.

"She exited the hut this morning and came back with a woman and children. It seems they have moved in" Jen informed him. Kylo nodded and watched her through the screen.

Duffle bag in her shoulder she made her way through the streets of the village, the children gathered around her like the tide with their little hands wrapped around her hands and what part of her forearms they could reach. The adults surrounded her, with the palm of their hands aimed at her they bowed as if adoring the figurine of a saint. The crowd kept advancing until the edge of the village, where they stayed as she left alone and pushed into the forest and out of the drone's vision.

Kylo straightened again and turned to his knights.

"Get ready, she is coming" They all hurried out of the chamber to their own quarters, fully gearing up on their uniforms and armor.

Kylo waited outside when they all formed up behind him. She could be felt getting closer and closer as the seconds ticked by.

The group tensed as her presence reached the edge of the woods. Although she didn't give away any kind of aggression, the knights knew better than to lower their shields, the woman had too much a destructive potential.

The minutes ticked by slowly, adding to the tension on their shoulders until at last she emerged between the foliage.

Taller than he had figured from the screen, she stood not 20 yards from the group. Her clear marble eyes took them in and finally centered in Kylo's visor. For a moment they stood frozen, observing each other. Then, calmly, she advanced again towards the warriors and stopped right in front of the leader.

The Master then took a second to observe her. She was tall for a human woman, the top of her head came right at the height of his eyes.  
The ghostly skin from two nights ago retained its paleness, but there was a hint of natural pink in her cheeks and the tip of her nose that dimmed a bit the contrast of her almost red lips, those hints of humanity grounded her to the terrenal realm now that he could see her at the light of the sun.

Snapping free of his thoughts Kylo turned and walked back into the spacecraft, the woman on tow and his knights closing in on the back.

In the silence of the suttle the knights shared an uneasy look from behind their masks. They had supposed she was too untrained to understand the extent of her own powers and now they knew.

She had been waiting for them.


End file.
